ECOFIBRE LOOKS TO COMMERCIAL HEMP TRIALS

A Brisbane company looking to make a multi-million dollar investment in the industrial hemp industry hopes to start commercial trials of the crop this month. Ecofibre Industries wants to test growing conditions throughout Queensland before selecting one or two sites to grow the crop, eventually producing up to 60,000 tonnes of industrial hemp a year. Trial sites include Mareeba, Burdekin, Mackay, Kingaroy, Murgon, Maryborough, Beaudesert and Dalby. The Queensland Government passed legislation in August to allow commercial production of hemp.

Ecofibre managing director Philip Warner says the company needs State Government approval this month or it will have to scale down the size of its trials. “If the... licences, don’t come through soon enough then we will be compromising that whole trial situation,” he said